Peter Godart

Millions of tons of aluminum end up in landfills every year. To Peter Godart, 30, that’s a waste of not only usable material, but also energy.

Like the fuels that power our world today, aluminum can release energy when it undergoes chemical reactions. Godart wants to harness the energy in waste aluminum as a cleaner alternative for heavy industry. To achieve that, he invented a chemical process that can pull apart aluminum by combining it with water. The process produces heat and hydrogen, which can both be used as energy sources.

In 2022, Godart founded a company called Found Energy to bring his invention to commercial reality. The startup plans to partner with aluminum makers, which will be able to harness energy recovered from aluminum scrap to power part of their operations.  

Godart’s vision is to establish a new method of recycling aluminum and turn the metal into a sustainable fuel used across industries. One cubic meter of aluminum contains twice as much energy as the same amount of diesel. That could make the metal a candidate for powering long-distance ships or industrial processes that require lots of energy today.